Little Rock directors press staff on new stormwater manual as ADEQ deadline nears

City of Little Rock staff told the Board of Directors on March 4 that the city must adopt an updated stormwater drainage manual and associated MS4 permit by March 31 to meet Arkansas Department of Energy and Environment requirements, and that ADEQ has declined requests to phase in the new water-quality standard.

The manual, staff said, updates technical design methods first adopted in the 1980s, increases use of the modified rational method for detention design on larger sites, and sets a post-construction water-quality standard tied to total suspended solids. Brad, interim director, told the board the draft reflects “years of collaboration, compromise, and commitment” and that staff reduced an original recommendation to set the water-quality standard at “1.05 inches or the eighth percentile of total suspended solids,” which he said is the state minimum confirmed by consultants and DEQ. He said…